Alert Bluffton resident tracks teen burglary suspects until police arrive

Three Bluffton teens were arrested Wednesday in connection with a string of early morning car break-ins near All Joy Road after an alert resident followed the trio on foot until police arrived, according to a Beaufort County Sheriff's Office report.

A 50-year-old Bluffton resident called deputies around 3 a.m. after hearing noises from a shed near his house at Martin Place on Minuteman Drive.

He checked and saw two young women and a man walking away, the report said.

The teens hid in bushes about a block from the home, the report said. That's where deputies spotted the two women. After a short search, the man was found near Michael C. Riley Elementary School, authorities said.

Police believe the teens broke into three other cars, as well as the shed on Minuteman Drive.

Jacob Tooley, Jessica Heller and Brittney Johnson, all 18, were charged with three counts of breaking into a motor vehicle, second-degree burglary and grand larceny. All three were in the Beaufort County jail on Wednesday night and likely will be arraigned today.

Deputies believe the three might be involved in several other Bluffton break-ins over the past several months after finding items on the teens not linked to Wednesday's break-ins, authorities said.

Lt. Bryan Norberg of the Bluffton Police Department said police have received information from the Sheriff's Office about the thefts, but have not tied the three to other crimes.

OTHER CAR BREAK-INS

Two vacationing teenagers charged in a car break-in Dec. 29 on Hilton Head Island after allegedly returning to the

scene of the crime as deputies investigated might have been involved in several similar incidents, according to the Sheriff's Office.

After a short chase, deputies arrested the two 14-year-olds after a Ford Explorer parked at Spinnaker Resorts, 45 Waterside Drive, was broken into. Sheriff's Offfice spokeswoman Cpl. Robin McIntosh said the two were found with several items believed to be stolen from cars over a three-day period on the south end of the island.

Deputies are unsure how many cars were been broken into, but McIntosh said authorities are asking the public to help piece together how many break-ins might be linked to the vacationing North Carolinians.

The teens were charged with fleeing to evade arrest, breaking into a motor vehicle and petit larceny. They were released into their parents' custody.